Information AboutKalmykia |
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GEOGRAPHY
Time zone Kalmykia is located in the Moscow Time Zone (MSK/MSD). UTC offset is +0300 (MSK)/+0400 (MSD). Rivers Major rivers include: Lakes Kalmykia is located on the shores of the Caspian Sea . In general, there are very few lakes on the territory of the republic. The biggest lakes include: Mountains Natural Resources Kalmykia's natural resources include Coal , Oil , and Natural Gas . Climate Kalmykia has a continental climate, with very hot and dry summers and cold winters with little snow.
ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS Main article: Administrative Divisions Of Kalmykia DEMOGRAPHICS As per the 2002 census, Kalmyks at 155,938 make up 53,3% of the population, followed by ethnic Russians at 98,115 (33.5%), Dargins at 7,295 (2.49%), Chechens at 5,979 (2.04%), Kazakhs at 5,011 (1.71%), Ukrainians at 2,505 (0.86%), Avars at 2,305 (0.79%), Volga Germans at 1,643 (0.56%), Koreans at 1,049 (0.36%) and a host of smaller groups. All in all, 97 ethnic groups are listed for the republic.
HISTORY Early Modern History What sets Kalmykia apart from its neighbors is the fact that it is the only Buddhist territory in Europe . Russians adopted the name Kalmyk from the Tatars in the 16th Century . The Russians later learned about the name Oirat , which had come from the Mongols. There is a very common misunderstanding that the Kalmyks are "western Mongol s". This is analogous to calling the English Germans just because both languages (English and German) belong to the Germanic language group. Kalmyks, in fact, are not Mongols. The two cultures have their own histories. At one time, the Kalmyks controlled a vast area known as '' Grand Tartary '' or the '' Kalmyk Empire '' to Westerners, which stretched from the Great Wall Of China to the River Don , and from the Himalayas to Siberia . The European steppes have always been much more productive than the Asian steppes as a result of greater moisture from the Atlantic. This is why all powerful nomads from Central Asia were always trying to conquer European plains: Hungarians (Kalmyks call them Uugr) in the 8th Century , Tatars (Kalmyks call them Mangyd) in the 13th Century , and Kalmyks (Kalmyks call themself ''Dörvn Öörd''—The Allied Four) in the 17th Century —all of them were driven to Europe because of its rich pastureland. So, the Torghuud chief Khoo Örlög decided to move westward at the beginning of 17th century. This was not because of a mythical internal struggle created by the Khoshuud tribe. Khoo Örlög was not a refugee, but rather sought greener pastures to the West. Initially, he led the Torghuud s and part of another tribe, the Dörvuud s. The Khoshuud s and Ölööd s joined them almost a century later. The Kalmyks reached as far as the Steppe s of southeast Europe in 1630 . That land, however, was not empty. It was homeland of the very powerful Nogay Hordes. Under pressure of Kalmyk warriors, the Nogays fled to the Crimea and the Kuban river. Subsequently, all other nomadic groups in the European steppes became vassals of Kalmyk Khan. The Kalmyks settled not only around Astrakhan on the Volga delta, territories recently annexed by the Russian Czars, but also occupied territories spreading from the Ural to Terek rivers. They still kept a close bond with the Kalmyks remaining in their Central Asian homeland. Allied with Russia ( Czar Alexey I allowed them to settle in his realm in exchange for Kalmyk pledge to defend Russian border), the Torghuud flourished there during the reign of Ayuki Khan , who was given the title of Khan by the 6th Dalai Lama . Imposition of Russian Rule In the late 18th century, they were disillusioned with increasing Russian interference. In 1763 , Catherine The Great invited almost 30,000 Germans to settle in the Volga region, north of the Kalmyks. She offered them the fertile land to farm so securing it against the “ Tartars .” The Kalmyks enjoyed a high degree of autonomy in Russia until 1771 , when Catherine The Great abolished their self-government. She tried to make them accept Christianity and Agriculture . The Kalmyk Khan and Ayuki's great-grandson Ubashi decided to return to Dzungaria. Under Khan's order about 200,000 Kalmyks started their unprecedented march to Central Asia. After almost seven months Kalmyks reached Manchu Empire's western outposts Xinjiang near the Balkhash Lake . Those who remained in Russian territory were accepted by the authorities, especially since they provided excellent soldiers for the Imperial Russian Army . A Kalmyk regiment served during the Napoleonic Wars ( 1812 - 1815 )and the war with Ottoman Empire, and over the next century, Kalmyk soldiers were prominent in divisions throughout the Czarist Army. The remaining Kalmyk gradually created fixed settlements with houses and temples, instead of their transportable round felt Yurt s. This process lasted until well after the Russian Revolution . The Volga Germans developed friendly relations with the Kalmyks. In 1804 , Benjamin Bergmann published a four volume work on their language and religion, entitled ''Nomadische Streifereien unter der Kalmüken in den Jahre 1802 und 1804'' (Nomadic Migrations among the Kalmyks in the Year 1802 and 1804). In 1865 , Elista , the future capital of Kalmykia was built. Russian Revolution and Collectivisation After the Communist October Revolution in 1917, many Kalmyks joined the White Russian army during the Russian Civil War , especially under Generals Wrangel and Denikin . Before the Red Army broke through to the Crimean Peninsula towards the end of 1920, about 20 Kalmyk families fled with Wrangel to Warsaw , Poland and Prague , Czechoslovakia . A much larger group went with Denikin, most of them settling in Belgrade , Serbia with smaller numbers in Sofia , Bulgaria and Paris and Lyon , France . The Kalmyk refugees in Belgrade built a Buddhist temple there in 1929 . The Soviet authorities severely punished the Kalmyks who remained, beheading 10,000. On November 4 , 1920 Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast was created. The Bolshevik regime executed about 10,000 Kalmyks at this time. In 1931 , Stalin ordered the Collectivization , closed the Buddhist monasteries, and burned the Kalmyks' religious texts. He deported all monks and all herdsmen owning more than 500 sheep to Siberia . The forced Collectivization was unsuited to the Kalmyk temperament and the dry, treeless landscape and was a social, economic and cultural disaster. About 60,000 Kalmyks died during the great famine of 1932 to 1933 . On October 22 , 1935 the region was elevated to republic status Kalmyk Autonomous Republic within the RSFSR . Second World War Following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in September 1941 , Goebbels invited several prominent Kalmyks from Belgrade, Paris, and Prague to Berlin . He wanted them to help with a propaganda campaign. The Nazis wished to win the Kalmyks to the German side against the Russians. No Kalmyks were sent to concentration camps. Goebbels turned this nucleus into a committee to free the Kalmyks from the Communist regime helping them print a Kalmyk language newspaper and broadcast radio news in Kalmyk directly toward Kalmykia. When the Nazi 16th Motorized Infantry Division under Field Marshal Manstein took Kalmykia early in 1942, three members of this committee were with them. Some of the Belgrade Kalmyks also participated in this invasion. They had joined the German Army after the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia in April 1941 . The German army was greeted with butter and milk, the traditional Kalmykian offering to welcome guests. They were seen as liberators from Stalin’s oppressive rule. The Germans offered to dismantle the collectives and divide and privatize the land. They allowed the Kalmyks to practice Buddhism again. In response, the Kalmyks dug up the religious texts they had buried for safekeeping and built a makeshift temporary temple. In November and December 1942, however, the Red Army retook Kalmykia and destroyed everything the people had rebuilt. In 1943 was put directly under control of the central government followed by the Deportation Of The Whole Kalmyk Nation without notice to Siberia in cattle trucks in midwinter. Half of their number perished during the journey and in the following years of Exile , effectively an Ethnic Cleansing . Meanwhile about 5,000 men accepted an offer to join the Nazi military, forming the Kalmykian Voluntary Cavalry Corps . Only a few woman and children accompanied them. The Kalmyk troops fought with the Nazi army behind the lines, especially around the Azov Sea . Post War Kalmykia Due to their widespread dispersal in Siberia their language and culture suffered possibly irreversible decline. Khrushchev finally allowed their return in 1957 , when they found their homes, jobs and land occupied by imported Russians and Ukrainians , who remained. On January 9 , 1957, Kalmykia again became an autonomous oblast, and on July 29 , 1958 —an autonomous republic within RSFSR . In the following years bad planning of agricultural and irrigation projects resulted in widespead Desertification , and economically unviable industrial plants were constructed. With the collapse of the Soviet regime the economy also disintegrated, causing widespread social hardship and increasing depopulation of rural areas lacking in resources and facilities. After dissolution of the USSR, Kalmykia kept the status of an autonomous republic within the newly formed Russian Federation ( March 31 , 1992 ). POLITICS The head of the government in Kalmykia is called "The Head of the Republic". The President of the Russian Federation selects a candidate for the Head of the Republic position and presents it to the Parliament of Kalmyk Republic for approval. If a candidate is not approved, the President of the Russian Federation can dissolve the Parliament and set up new elections. As of 2006 , the Head of the Republic is Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov , who is also the president of the world chess organization FIDE . ECONOMY Kalmykia has a developed agricultural sector. Other developed industries include Food Processing and oil and gas industries. Annual Budget: revenues and expenditures: about $100 million Annual Oil Production: about 200,000 metric tonn EDUCATION Kalmyk State University is the biggest higher education facility in the republic. MISCELLANEOUS There is a small Kalmyk minority living within eastern Kyrgyzstan , especially in villages in the Karakol region. Probably, these Kalmyks are those who remained when the bulk of the nation moved westwards in the early 16th Century . The Kalmyk language and their traditions are dying out rapidly due to small numbers and majority pressures. Although some of these Kyrgyzstan ian Kalmyks are Muslims , other Kalmyks throughout the world remain Tibetan/Vajrayana Buddhists . The Kalmyk culture has seen a resurgence of interest in the last 20 years, and most Kalmyks regard His Holiness the Dalai Lama as their spiritual leader. Telo Rinpoche is the head of Kalmyk Buddhist Union, which most Buddhists in Kalmykia belong to. The Kalmyks have also established communities in the United States, primarily in Pennsylvania and New Jersey . The majority are descended from those Kalmyks who fled from Russia in late 1920 to France , Yugoslavia , Bulgaria , and, later, Germany. Many of those Kalmyks living in Germany at the end of World War II were eventually granted passage to the United States. As a consequence of their decades-long migration through Europe , many older Kalmyks are fluent in German , French and Serbo-Croatian , in addition to their native Russian and Kalmyk Language . There is a Kalmyk Buddhist temple in Belgrade , Serbia , and several Kalmyk Buddhist temples in Monmouth County, New Jersey , where the vast majority of American Kalmyks reside, as well as a Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center and monastery in Washington County, NJ. The word ''Kalmyk'' means 'those who remained'— origin is unknown but this name was known centuries before a large part of Kalmyks moved back from Volga River to Dzhungaria in the 18th Century . There are three cultural subgroups within the Kalmyk nation: ''Turguts'', ''Durbets'' (Durwets), and ''Buzavs'' ( Oirat s, who joined Russian Cossack s, else we can find some villages of Hoshouts and Zungars. The 'Durbets' subgroup includes the '' Chonos '' tribe (literally meaning "a tribe of the Wolf", other names - "Shonos", "Chinos", "A-Shino" or "A-Chino"), which is considered to be one of the most ancient tribes in the world, dating back to 6th to 11th Century . SEE ALSO REFERENCES FURTHER READING
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